Made a Blog Here re: AX84 cab and Tweed 5e3

[Commodore 64]

I started a blog post detailing my build: http://www.thefret.net/entry.php/27-AX84-Cab-and-Tweed

I decided to post here because I figured some of you may be like me, and never check the blog section.

Let me know if you think the blog is a better outlet for this and I'll update it. But I figured I'd do a normal thread just in case the blog goes over like a lead balloon.

[Commodore 64]

Around Christmas, 2011 I decided that I wanted to build an amp. Originally I planned to heavily mod a Valve Jr that I traded a couple of pedals for...After doing a lot of reading, I decided to go with a PCB from ppwatt.com. I'll build a head, and I need a speaker cabinet too. So I ordered up a Jensen Jet Falcon (http://jensentone.com/jc12-50f.php), 12-inch and a bunch of T-Nuts (part# S-HTN1032) from Antique Electric Supply (AES) (http://www.tubesandmore.com/).
http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/AX84_Jensen_Jet.jpg

I decided to use the cabinet plans from http://www.ax84.com/corecabinets.html Got some cabinet grade birch 3/4-inch plywood. Couldn't find any Baltic Birch, the void free kind, locally. The cabinet grade stuff at my local lumber yard is made in China, with lots of voids. Oh well, this is my first try so it won't likely be my last. I cut enough parts to make 2 cabinets, knowing that I'm a crap woodworker. Joined the first cab with biscuits. And it wasn't square. Not salvageable. My second attempt, I used my Krek pocket hole jig and pocket holes. This worked much better. I had camera issues, so apologies for the lack of progress pics.

I used hardwood baffle supports (oak). Hard as Hell (more on that later). I fought with several types of glue for covering the cab. I bought brown tolex from AES (part number S-G308-A), $13 a yard. High VOC contact cement almost killed me in my basement. It's 20 degrees outside so I couldn't really do it in the garage. So then I ordered some granular hide glue. The kind you gotta melt and bake for a couple hours before you use it (apparently Fender used hide glue back the day for affixing tolex). Well, that was really hard to work with, because it would cool while I was painting it on the sides of the cab, and then had no tack. It has a small window with which to work. And it smells bad. You can see the cab up in the corner.
http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/ax84cab_Tolex_Measured.jpg

So...2 sides of the cab I used Contact cement, 2 sides I used Hide Glue, and the back panels I used 3M Spray 77. None of them are ideal. I will buy the "tolex Glue" from AES (part #S-F316G) when i build my head cab. I painted the front speaker panel black. Here's a pic of the panel and the partially finished cab. I got some burlap/wicker type grill fabric, but it was woven pretty loosely. So I went to www.partsexpress.com and ordered a yard of cheap black generic grill cloth (http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=260-335). You can see that I put the T-Nuts on all of the holes in the baffle supports...
http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/ax84cab_speakercut.jpg

Got the speaker mounted. The T-Nuts are the kind with sharp points that are supposed to dig into the wood. But the oak baffle supports were so freakin' hard, that the sharp points flattened. And the T-nuts kept popping out when I tried to put the 10-32 screws in.Maddening. Also, next time I will wait to drill the holes in the baffle supports and panels. I will drill them at the same time. It was a true mother F'r to get the holes to line up.
http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/ax84cab_speaker_mounted.jpg

I half assed the front. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with the grill gloth, so I just mounted the Tnuts right through. I'll build another cab in the spring when I can work in my garage. I ordered Ernie Ball cabinet corners, but they didn't fit. It said they would fit 3/4 stock. Luckily I had also ordered some from AES (part# P-H1084N ) that worked. You do have to bang on them with a hammer to get them to conform to the corner shape. I also used a generic handle from AES (part #P-H261 ), $4. Here it is, in all it's glory with my Pro Jr... If you guys are really nice, I'll record some clips (soon).

http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/AX84_cab_Finished.jpg

Now I can FINALLY move on to the amp building part!

[Commodore 64]

Before I do that though, let's step back and discuss a few other things:

Here's my hide glue and chocolate pot. I used the chocolate pot, on high, it maintains 150-155 degrees F.
http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/Ax84_Behlens.jpg


Here's my little corner of the basement:
http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/Shop_basement.jpg

My new Weller 35w soldering iron and note the replacement tip. A tiny chisel tip for soldering small stuff.
http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/Shop_Soldering_Iron.jpg

My Kreg Pockethole Jig, Love this thing:
http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/Shop_Kreg.jpg

[Commodore 64]

Marked up my Hammond 16x8x2 chassis using the 5E3 PCB as a template;
http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/5e3_pcb.jpg

Stopped at Harbor Freight, got a big step drill:
http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/5e3_Chassis_Step.jpg

Chucked it up in my Harbor Freight Drill Press:
http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/5e3_Chassis_drill.jpg

A lot of vibration and noise later:
http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/5e3_Chassis_Holes.jpg

And that's about as far as I've gotten so far...

[Commodore 64]

Here's a couple shots of the unfinished head cab:

A nice shot of the pocket holes made by the aforementioned Kreg:
http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/AX84_Head_pocketholes.jpg

I have no idea what kind of wood this is, but it's heavy and harder than pine or poplar.
http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/Ax84_Head_unfin.jpg


And here's a shot of my failed biscuit joined cab, and my first try with a circle jig and jig saw at the speaker circle. I ended up modifying that jig because it was a piece of crap.

http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/Ax84_Failed_Cab.jpg

[bcdon]

Very cool! Keep the thread up or at least post a note here when you update it. Great work so far!

[Ch0jin]

Yeah nice work, although you have further convinced me never to attempt to build a cabinet in my apartment :)

[Commodore 64]

I bought my bar jig at the Home Despot for jig saws. The mechanism for attaching the bar to the saw is really lousy, the vibrations from the saw and cutting would cause it to move. Really useless. So I drilled a hole in the bar and used the plastic handle as a stop for the saw. I put the step drill in the stop bar where I drilled the pivot hole to highlight the hole and to illustrate how the jig works.

http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/Shop_circlejig.jpg

[Commodore 64]

Did anyone notice I drilled my chassis wrong? It's probably salvageable but as I was looking at it, I decided I should just use the Valve Jr. chassis, since I bought the faceplate and all, and I could reuse the cab. My Valve Jr. was a V2 combo, so I had to go with the Tubes Down format. Used the hand drill like James said, and a little 3 in 1 oil for cutting. Worked much better than the drill press.
http://lucky-cricket.com/files/5E3_Chassis_comp.JPG

Here's a shot of the front with the holes drilled for the 5E3 Controls.
http://lucky-cricket.com/files/5E3_front_holes.JPG

Thought I should post this one to show you all that I CAN follow directions and to thank James for his excellent tutorial. That tutorial was the whole reason I found this site, and decided to build with the 5E3 PCB. :)
http://lucky-cricket.com/files/5E3_Start_PCB.JPG

Filter caps are in!
http://lucky-cricket.com/files/5E3_Filtercaps.JPG

Resistors are in! I used orange drops (716P Series)for this build. O.022uf everywhere but the .1, which I used .047uf
http://lucky-cricket.com/files/5e3_resistors.JPG

Wiring up the Pot complex.
http://lucky-cricket.com/files/5E3_Pots.JPG

Wiring up the jacks and switches. Look close, I wired the input jacks backwards. The ground wire is on the wrong set of lugs.
http://lucky-cricket.com/files/5E3_jacks_switches.JPG

Time to button her up! I soldered the connections from the top. When I was in the chassis this afternoon swapping out the 47 Ohm 5w for a 270 ohm, I soldered those connections in the right way and twisted some of the wires to fix up the lead dress.
http://lucky-cricket.com/files/5E3_All_wired_up.JPG

None of my knobs fit the solid shafts. Grrr...looks like I'll need to make another order soon...
http://lucky-cricket.com/files/5E3_Faceplate.JPG

[Commodore 64]

Here's a shot of the whole Amp Family. Well, my Classic 30 is at my practice so, that's not here. But you get the idea.
http://lucky-cricket.com/files/Gear_5e3.JPG

And look here, what I got for $20. A pile of practice amps. I hope some of the chassis in those Frontman 15 can support new transformers!
http://lucky-cricket.com/files/Amps_20bucks.JPG